Walking with kids - suggestions?

[aphillips]

Hi All,

am new to the site - but the bits'n'pieces that I've looked at over the last few weeks have led me to register and brave up to asking my first question! What suggestions do others have for walks to get littlies into bushwalking. I have been a bushwalker since I was a kid, but haven't done much at all for a few years now (was never REALLY hard-core anyway!) and am trying to get back into it with the kids (1.5 and 3.5 years) . As the eldest is starting to get a bit too heavy to be in the backpack all day we are scaling right back to doing walks that are at a 3yo's level, ie. very short and very slow! Pretty frustrating, but we are trying to do it with other friends with littlies too, which improves the experience. So far we have been to Snug Falls (3 adults, 5 kids - was a little bit too far for most), Silver Falls from Fern Tree (a bit too easy really!) and up the Truganinni Track a little way.

Any suggestions of short, easy, there-and-back walks which maybe get to something (a view, waterfall, playground) would be appreciated. And then maybe we'll end up with a whole squad of bush-loving young people in about a decade!!

Al.

[Son of a Beach]

Waterfalls are generally a good option, as you don't (usually) have to climb a mountain to get there, and there are a lot of waterfalls with short tracks to get there.

There are two sets of waterfalls on the Mersey River off the Lees Paddocks track which are quite easy, and probably doable by a 3yo: Oxley Falls and Lewis Falls. The Lees Paddocks track itself is easy to find and easy to follow, and mostly flat (apart from a short downhill section at the beginning and therefore a short uphill section at the very end). The side tracks to the falls are easily missed, you have to look out carefully for cairns/logs which mark the turn offs from the main track. The turns offs from the main track are about 1.5 hours walk from the start.

If you do miss the turn offs, the Lees Paddocks track itself is a nice walk in any case. Although a 3yo may struggle to get all the way to Lees Paddocks and back in one day (it's about 2.5 hours each way for an adult, I think), you could just walk the first hour and enjoy the Pine Hut Plain, the Mersey River, and then the rainforest, and then have lunch wherever you found a suitable spot, then turn around and walk back again.

EDIT: Actually, looking at where you've already been, I'm guessing you're in or near Hobart, so this may be a long drive for you.

[Joe]

pop into a bushwalking shop or good book shop and get a copy of any of the Hardy and Elson books...reviews of them on my website. They are all family friendly walks in tassie...*&%$#! good books too.

[GerryDuke]

Oxley Falls is a bit far perhaps for a 3 yo. The track is also very wet just past pine hut. The suspension bridge near the start of the track across the Mersey was washed away last August. It may have been repaired by now - does anyone know? Pine Lake, Arm River Falls, Piomena (Goblin Walk) on The Blue Tier and Launcestons Gorge are all suitable for children. Liffey Falls upper track is short enough - even the lower track. Russell Falls, Lake Dobson and the Lyre Bird walk at Mt Field are suitable for children. Lots of walks arounde Cradle Mt - take them to Tasmazia on the way! See http://www.TouringTasmania.info.

[Son of a Beach]

Oxley Falls is a bit far perhaps for a 3 yo. The track is also very wet just past pine hut. The suspension bridge near the start of the track across the Mersey was washed away last August. It may have been repaired by now - does anyone know?

Yes, it was repaired during the summer.

[tastrax]

My advice is forget the destination...its the journey that counts!

Be prepared to get down on your hands and knees and watch a lizard for ten minutes, or lay on your back and look at the canopy in a forest (in the rain), smell the flowers and hug a tree - be a kid for a change. Also get them to pack a small pack and be involved in the goodies they carry - digital cameras are great with kids as they can take lots of shots and it costs you nothing (but the occasional print for their bedroom wall). Get them to take photos of yellow things or orange things (blue is a bit harder!), maybe curly things or straight things. This way the activity lasts a lot longer. It is frustratingly slow but they do enjoy it and they start to enjoy photography at the same time.

Lastly, don't be surprised if the thing they remember most about the day is the ice cream they got on the way home or the smarties in the scroggin. Its just one small step to getting them into the bush and appreciating everything.

I took my kids to the Grand Canyon when they were young and they hated it - boring ditch! 10 years later and they rave about that great family trip.... so it does rub off eventually!

Cheers - Phil